Funeral held for WWII vet, Medal of Honor recipient

N.J. resident was oldest living recipient of nation's highest military honor

Oct. 10, 2013 - 07:15PM
|

The casket containing the body of Nicholas Oresko, a New Jersey soldier who had been the nation's oldest living recipient of the Medal of Honor, is covered wtih a U.S. flag while standing next to his medal during a ceremony at Bergen Community College on Oct. 10 in Paramus, N.J. (Julio Cortez / AP)

Genevieve Doocey, center right, is comforted by her granddaughters, from left, Laura Wyton, Sheila Mathis and Barbara Robb while attending the funeral of Doocey's long-time companion, Nicholas Oresko, a New Jersey soldier who had been the nation's oldest living recipient of the Medal of Honor, during funeral services at George Washington Memorial Park on Oct. 10 in Paramus, N.J. (Julio Cortez / AP)

PARAMUS, N.J. — Friends and veterans honored a New Jersey soldier who was the nationís oldest living recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Nicholas Oresko didnít have any living relatives when he died at age 96 on Oct. 4.

Three hundred people attended a public funeral for Oresko at The Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre on the Bergen County College campus in Paramus Thursday. Five Medal of Honor recipients attended.

The Bayonne native was deployed in Europe during World War II. The Army master sergeant was badly wounded as he single-handedly took out two enemy bunkers during the Battle of the Bulge in 1945.

Oresko became the nationís oldest living Medal of Honor recipient in 2011.

Gov. Chris Christie ordered flags on all state buildings to fly at half-staff in Oreskoís memory.